Founders Fair

How Would You Like to See Workplace Culture Change?

“I’d like every company to have a no asshole rule,” Shan-Lyn Ma, the co-founder and C.E.O. of wedding registry start-up Zola, said during Vanity Fair’s inaugural Founders Fair. When speakers from the summit, including the founders of The Skimm and Glossier, were asked to articulate their visions for how workplace culture can change, they didn't hold back.

Tamika D. Mallory, the co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington, said, “You have too many places where women are not at the table, but yet we’re the ones with the ideas.”

“Equal pay, equal treatment—it should not be a favor,” Tory Burch said. “It should be a given.”

“People need to be aware of their unconscious bias and how what they’re doing might be impacting other people,” Theresia Gouw, the co-founder and managing partner of Aspect Ventures, added.

Founders Fair, Vanity Fair’s inaugural day-long summit, brought together female founders and risk-takers to share their stories and the challenges of starting and running a business. The centerpiece of the event, at the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, was a series of one-on-one interviews with entrepreneurs and leaders like Reese Witherspoon, Kelly Ayotte, Sasheer Zamata, and Emily Weiss.

Jodi Gernon, Director of the Arthur Rock Center at the Harvard Business School and Theresia Gouw, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Aspect Ventures.

Photograph by Andrew Toth/Getty Images.

Stephanie Mehta, Deputy Editor of Vanity Fair.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Yvette Clarke, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 9th District, Kelly Ayotte, former United States Senator, Republican Party, Elizabeth Gore, Entrepeneur-in-Residence at Dell and JJ Ramberg, TV anchor at MSNBC.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Sasheer Zamata, Comedian on Saturday Night Live.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Model Ashley Graham listens during a panel.

Photograph by Andrew Toth/Getty Images.

Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and CEO of Warby Parker and Emily Weiss, Founder and CEO of Glossier.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Krista Smith, Executive West Coast Editor of Vanity Fair.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Gregg Renfrew, Founder of BeautyCounter.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Carmen Perez, Founder of the Women’s March.

Photograph by Justin Bishop.

Bob Bland, Tamika D. Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsou, the national co-chairs of the Women's March on Washington.